Kesha brought her Rainbow tour to OKC...

Free flower crowns & body glitter were passed around to everyone.

...and it was one of the best things ever! She played at the Zoo Amphitheater on July 2nd, 2018. I went with my coworker friend, Audrey, and it was my second Kesha concert. The first time I saw her, I went with my friend, Michelle, and she still spelled her name Ke$ha. It was at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles in September of 2011. That was only seven short years ago but, boy how things have changed! All of us... Kesha, myself and Michelle... are completely different people now. It was rather amazing to see how Kesha has changed as a performer.

How it was in 2011.

The show she put on in 2011 was a party - her set design screamed grungy house party, she drank beer (instead of water) in between songs, she barely even sang her songs, there were backup singers & dancers everywhere and at the end of the show, she encouraged us to all go home with the people sitting next to us. At the time, Michelle & I were in our twenties and a party in LA was what we needed.  I looked back at some old pictures and that concert was great.

Fast forward to the concert last week. Completely (COMPLETELY) different experience. Kesha sang all of the words to each one of her songs and she played the guitar! It was really neat to hear "rock" versions of her older pop songs, such as Blah Blah Blah with electric guitar and an actual live band & vocals. Auto-tune and backing tracks were out and raw performances with instruments were in! There were still back up dancers, glitter and confetti but the show had purpose and meaning. She stopped in between songs to tell us about her struggles and encouraged us all to spread kindness. The visuals from the set design transported us onto Kesha's planet where she reminded us all to be ourselves, unapologetically and without shame.

Her set included a massive space shuttle which she walked out of adorned in a glittering white crown and cape. She started the show with her feminist anthem, Woman. After that song, she explained a sticky predicament she was in - the Zoo Amphitheater does not allow cursing and will charge a fine to all artists who use swear words, but 99% of her songs include swear words. Being Kesha, she gave a huge middle finger to Zoo Amphitheater management and carried on with her foul language. I don't think it offended anyone. She sang many songs from her latest album but sprinkled in some of her old songs as well.  She entered the space shuttle a few times and each time reemerged with a more colorful outfit. At the end of the night, she gave us a two song encore, including an extremely emotional rendition of her song Praying, and showered us all in confetti.

I loved her performance in Los Angeles; as much fun as that was, I think I enjoy the 2018 version of Kesha so much more. As we go through change and the growing pains that accompany life, we often wish we were still young and carefree. But going to this concert reminded me of all the greatness that comes from our pain and experiences. We all weather our own personal storms and with the right mindset, we come out the other end stronger and braver. Thank you Kesha for reminding us of that.

Erica & Lacey go to the OKC Zoo Amphitheater.

This is the second week in a row that I blog about an activity that I experienced with dear ol' Lacey.  I should probably blog about her more since she's one of my two best friends and we hang out quite frequently. Lacey had her 31st birthday recently and I reminisced in her card that we've experienced a whopping 15 birthdays together... fifteen. We met in middle school, became friends in high school, were dorm mates in college and our friendship continued to grew from there. Now into adulthood, we're still thick as thieves.

For her birthday gift, I took her to the Weezer & Panic! at the Disco concert. She loves Panic! at the Disco and I adore Weezer. It was the perfect pairing. The concert was outdoors at the Zoo Amphitheater. The venue opened at 4:30pm so concert goers could queue up early but the doors didn't open until 6:00pm. We got there around 6:15pm and, I kid you not, the line was already miles long. We had to park pretty far away from the venue, walk all the way there, then walk past it & down a few blocks to get in line. Lacey set her FitBit goal to be 10,000 steps and she met her goal! I usually enjoy a good walk but this was in Oklahoma-style 95 degree (aka insanely humid) weather so it was super uncomfortable. So, a word of advice for those of you going to a concert at the Zoo Amphitheater... get in line right at 4:30pm to avoid all the madness! LOL

When we finally got into the amphitheater, it was really nice. I've never attended a concert there before so it was a nice surprise. The stage is large and can be seen from all angles. The landscaping is a sloping hill with stone steps and many trees. We stood toward the middle and off to the side in the shade but still had a good view of the stage. And, the best part, it was okay being short (a major problem I have all the time) because we stood on a hill & were automatically taller than the people in front of us. The opening band was Atlas Genius. I've heard a few of their songs play on one of my Pandora stations. They were pretty good but we missed most of their set due to standing in line. (;_;) No pictures were taken.

Panic! at the Disco put on a great show. The lead singer did a back flip off the drum set & they even had a brass horn section!

After Atlas Genius' set, I ventured toward concessions for funnel cake and water. Sadly, they only accepted cash payment so I returned to my seat empty handed. But then Panic! at the Disco came on and, in our excitement, I forgot all about my hungry tummy. They were good. Like, really really good! I last saw them in the early 2000's when they opened for Motion City Soundtrack. I was not impressed with them at that show but tonight was a different story.
       During one of their songs, the guitarist from Weezer randomly walked into our section with his bodyguard and stood pretty close to us. I really wanted to take a sneaky candid picture but he never turned toward us. I stopped paying attention to him for a while and when I looked back, he had already walked away. He probably only stayed to listen to half a song.

Anyway, moving away from my fangirl moment and back to Panic! ... They played mostly their newer songs but a few of the classics, too. Lacey got to see her favorite song by them played live. They had a brass horn section, which was awesome. And, for one of the songs, the lead singer and drummer had a drum-off. It was like dueling pianos but dueling drums. Best part of their entire set! At the end of their set, the lead singer confessed that when he was 10 years old, he stole a cassette tape of Weezer's Blue Album and learned all the songs and that is what turned him on to rock and roll. And now, his band is opening for them so it made him "Victorious" (which is the song that they closed with). 

After Panic! at the Disco's set, all the youth left. LOL I would reckon that about 1/5 of the audience left before Weezer even came on. They missed out. Weezer was great and had the absolute best laser light show that I have ever seen! The light show was actually too good. I couldn't take any pictures because the lasers were too awesome and the lights were too bright and the projections were too in your face. LOL They had a huge screen (pictured above) that played music videos and 90's montages. There was the Weezer logo, tie dye, Treasure Trolls and Air Jordans. Their lighting director and tech crew definitely stole the show. 

I thought they would play a lot from their most recent White Album but they played mostly their classic songs and singles. A few years ago, Wes & I saw Weezer at Win Star Casino and their entire set was classics and singles so, tonight I wanted to hear some of newer stuff but, it was still a really good set. My only complaint would be, they did a few "best of Weezer" mixes that was the chorus of few songs played together. It was kinda cool but I would have rather heard the entire song. And, on a few of the songs, I feel like they missed the transition... like two of the band mates were still playing "El Scorcho" but the other two moved onto playing "In the Garage". They came out for an encore and the lead singer did a cover of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats." Then the band joined him for an acoustic version of "Island in the Sun" and then an all out rock-your-socks-off "Buddy Holly." Ah-mazing!

I'm on the left. Lacey's leg looks chopped off but she just has her legs crossed.

In the end, awesome night. \(^_^)/ Lacey & I had heaps of fun.  (We wore our matching infinity skirts and I'm sure our bitchin' fashion sense aided in our enjoyment of the concert. Hahaha!) Weezer is one of my favorite bands. It was my second time seeing Weezer live and I would go see them 5 more times if they were to return to Oklahoma. I'm still in awe over their laser light show! I wish I could have taken some pictures to show you. But song-wise, Lacey wins... I think Panic! at the Disco had the better set. They were just so damn good. I guess they must have known it was her birthday so they put on a good show just for her!